Blair Nelsen, president of the Nelsen Funeral Homes of Richmond, Ashland and Williamsburg, Va., and the Cremation Society of Virginia in Richmond, Charlottesville and Chantilly, Va., recently announced the merger of his family business with Service Corp International, according to a news release issued by Johnson Consulting Group, which was instrumental in accomplishing the merger as the firm represented both buyer and seller.

“When making a decision of this gravity, an owner has various and diverse objectives, many of which hold equal importance. Certainly the financial future of my immediate family, which includes siblings, is very important; but also is the future of the business my family invested over a century in creating. I want to know the community will be well served and that the Nelsen name will continue to be respected. Also important is the future of the over 100 associates that have invested their time and energies in building this business. When I considered all of these priorities with the assistance of Tom and Jake Johnson and their team of professionals, it became apparent SCI represented the best all around choice.”

According to Jake Johnson, “The Nelsen family businesses represent a perfect fit with SCI as it represents a merger of two high quality organizations. Mr. Blair Nelsen has gained a national reputation as one of the death care industry’s more innovative operators. As a result, Mr. Nelsen more than quadrupled his 120 year family business during the 20 years under his leadership.” J

“Contrary to what many people might expect, mergers and acquisitions is not just a matter of money changing hands. If that’s all there was to it, there would be no need for specialists such as JCG,” said Tom Johnson, JCG Chairman. “When working with buyers and sellers, it’s as much a matching of corporate cultures and individual personalities as it is arriving at a mutually acceptable dollar figure. JCG has gained our position in the death care industry not by just making deals, but by creating long term successful mergers where each side emerges successfully, both on the short term and the long term.”

Nelsen will remain with SCI in staff and advisory roles, applying his accumulated knowledge in building a successful cremation society business by accepting a position on the Neptune Society Board, and working with SCI’s legislative awareness team by influencing the development of state and national legislation that will positively impact the death care industry as a whole. For additional information about the Johnson Consulting Group’s services in the US and Canada, call 888-250-7747.